The proliferation of data management systems date back to the dawn of computers themselves. Entire companies have been built around the concept of providing a “better” data management system. Companies like Oracle, Seibel Systems, EDS and the like each offer data management systems to handle any number of tasks, or may be engaged to custom design such data management system to suit a particular market or product need.
Examples of such custom data management systems abound in markets ranging from real estate to automobile dealerships. More particularly, a number of inventory management systems have been developed that enable a realtor, auto dealer, retailer, etc. to intelligently manage inventory. Within the automotive industry, for example, no less than ten (10) different dealer management systems (data management systems tailored to managing the autodealers operation, including inventory management) are available, systems such as ADAM, ADP Advantage, ADP Alliance, ADP Elite, Advent, AutoMate, Dealer Solutions, KarPower, ProMax, Reynolds & Reynolds, and UCS are available from their respective creators.
Unfortunately, each of these data management systems use proprietary data formats to describe the inventory, and the layout of the data structures, user interfaces, etc. also vary from company to company. Such systems are usually not very intuitive and, as such, require that someone within a business learn and become proficient at using the system. Such a person, then, is responsible for entering, modifying and updating the information within the data management system. It is a paradigm prone to mistakes and the perpetuation of outdated information.
Another limitation, rooted in the proprietary nature of the custom data management systems, is that it is difficult if not impossible to share information across multiple systems and/or departments within an organization. In a typical car dealership, for example, the dealer management system tracks inventory, but cannot readily transport information to marketing for use in print or electronic advertising. That is, such conventional systems are not extensible to port their content to other currently existing media, or to new media as it is developed, which may have different data formats.
Thus, an improved data management interface is required that addresses one or more of the limitations commonly associated with conventional data management systems.